Without reason
by coffee-addicted
Summary: It has been 5 years since they graduated and now they will have to face each other again. Image taken from fanpop: submitted by HermioneRon343.


A/N: Hey guys, I leave you this one-chapter piece. I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think.

* * *

(The week before)

 _"We shouldn't be doing this", she affirmed as she turned her body, trying to escape the situation._

 _"So why did you follow me here?", he questioned, looking into her eyes. His right arm held her left shoulder firmly, but without hurting her._

 _The anxiety of her actions consumed her. She took a big breath to clear her thoughts. Her back, that rested against the wall, the only support for the world she felt spin beneath her feet._

-8-

Friday night

His words kept messing with her head since that night. She refused to answer his question, especially to herself. She knew she shouldn't have followed him, but the feeling that resurfaced in her breast that day had clouded whatever judgment she felt.

She was lying in her bed with a wine glass in her hand, red, not white, while she watched the lights from the city through the window of her apartment. It was Friday night, but she was left alone with her thoughts. She had refused Ron's invitation to accompany him and his Aurors colleagues to a pub. Harry wasn't going to be there anyway.

-8-

(The week before)

 _"Hello", he simply said. As if they had seen each other merely a few hours before._

 _She faced him. He was different from how she remembered him._

 _Except for his eyes, always more grey than blue._

 _His blond hair, almost white and unmistakable, was shorter than before and combed to the right side. The entries in his front head were enlarged and he had wrinkles behind his eyelids, reminding her that they hadn't seen each other in 5 years._

-8-

Friday night

Hermione was a successful Ministry employee and had her life all figured out. Yet to turn 30, she was considered a great promise and could easily be the first woman to become Minister of Magic in a couple of years. She was also the proud owner of a top floor penthouse in muggle London, shared with her school sweetheart and fiancé: they planned to get married the following year.

Nevertheless, for a week since _their_ encounter, her calm demeanor had been shaken. She had dark bags under her eyes as a result of her lack of sleep. Her agitation also didn't let her concentrate on her otherwise flawless job.

She grabbed her wand to contact him but released it above the mattress after thinking twice. She snatched it once again only to leave it a second time. She sighed, shaking her head from one side to the other.

-8-

(The week before)

 _They were seated at a rectangular table that could accommodate no more than a dozen people. The ex-schoolmates toasted in the air to their 5th graduation anniversary._

 _After the war, only a few of the 7th years had returned to complete their education at Hogwarts. Back then, they weren't divided between the four classical houses, but rather formed a 5th one called "Chamaeleonidae", focusing on the human ability to adapt and change, like a chameleon._

 _She looked from one side to the other, trying to participate in any of the parallel conversations that took place at the gathering._

 _She didn't know how she ended up seated right in front of him but was firmly avoiding his stare by paying attention to the others._

 _"Granger", she heard her name coming from his lips. She inhaled and moved her head in his direction as if saying for him to continue with what he wanted._

 _"I brought you something", he murmured and passed her a piece of paper under the table, away from prying eyes._

 _She opened the note with care and, looking down, frowned as she found herself facing her own handwriting._

 _Feeling her eyes filling up with tears, Hermione got up and headed towards the bathroom before anyone else noticed it._

-8-

Friday night

As if it could read her mind from afar, a gorgeous and regal owl tapped on her window. She let the bird in and gave it a treat. The bird left her the letter and flew without waiting for a response.

She read it immediately, knowing full well who was it from.

'I will be in Muggle London until tomorrow morning. I am staying at that little Bed and Breakfast you took me one time. If you still believe there could be an _us_ meet me there tonight. Otherwise, I will not bother you a second time'.

He hadn't even signed it.

-8-

(The week before)

 _It was almost daybreak and the reunion had moved to the dance floor. The Butterbeer had been replaced with Firewhisky and everybody laughed while dancing to their youthful hits. A mirror ball on the ceiling reflected colorful lights, reinforcing the nostalgic feeling that had installed itself in the group._

 _Passing between the bodies that were gathered together, he moved towards her. His pectoral touched her back and, in a challenging way, he put a hand above her waist._

 _She stopped moving and turned around to face him._

-8-

Friday night

Hermione refilled her glass up to the top and took all of its content at once. She got out of bed and put on her work shirt and trousers above her nightgown, and the most comfortable pair of sports snickers she owned. Then, she took the elevator, got out of the building and walked to the nearest apparition point.

-8-

(The week before)

 _Hermione was in the kitchen with Luna._

 _They had been close friends since the War and she decided to share with the blond girl what occurred only minutes before with Malfoy._

 _Luna looked at Hermione with understanding. She had always been able to read her and she knew about the history between the complicated pair._

 _"I didn't think he would have kept it after all this time", Hermione confided in her._

 _"Of course he would", Luna affirmed._

 _Before Hermione could say anything else, the culprit entered the room and grabbed a Butterbeer._

 _"Everything good?" He asked the two of them._

 _"Sure", Luna responded and continued, "but I was actually just going back to the dance floor". She passed through the door and left them alone, not before saying "Have you seen the Blibbering Humdinger near the lights?"_

 _Hermione also turned around to leave, but he grabbed her elbow with care, stopping her._

 _"I feel like you are avoiding me", he asseverated._

 _She shook her head in denial, "Of course not", she guaranteed him._

 _He grimaced. "You know you could never lie, Granger"._

 _Hermione snorted angrily at him and declared, "I just don't get what you are trying to achieve. That is all"._

-8-

Friday night

Before being able to apparate, Ron sent her a Patronus.

'Hey. First of all, don't worry, I just couldn't get an owl. I'm just letting you know I am going to be late. We are going to Theo's place and play some Wizard Chess. I love you. See you later'.

After walking around in circles for 15 minutes, she put on her jacket and left.

-8-

(The week before)

 _She watched him from across the room getting closer to Daphne Greengrass. Hermione couldn't help feeling a lump in her throat or the bile that crept all the way to her mouth._

 _He found her eyes from a distance, but lowered his head anyway, whispering something in the other girl's ear. He knew she had always felt jealous of the pureblood blond bimbo._

 _Defying him, Hermione lifted her chin as if she could care less about what she saw and went straight to the bar. She asked for a shot of Firewhisky._

 _He got away from Daphne with a lame excuse and headed to Hermione's direction._

 _"Having fun?", she couldn't help asking him when he approached her._

 _He watched her with attention, knowing full well the meaning behind those simple words. However, he preferred to play dumb and ignore them._

 _"Did you remember what you wrote to me, Granger?", he rustled the question near her neck, managing to get her to hear it through the loud music, while also sending her goosebumps._

 _"You know I did, Draco", she testified._

 _"And?", he demanded from her, enraged by her dismissal._

 _"And nothing, Malfoy", his last name made him squirm, but she kept going, "That was years ago. It doesn't mean anything anymore"._

 _"I am not so sure of it", he confronted her by lifting her chin with his thumb. After facing her without an answer, he released her and turned back around in Daphne's direction._

 _She couldn't help grunting at him and asked the bartender for another shot._

-8-

Friday night

She did not know how it happened, but when she regained control of her senses, she found herself standing near the gates of the Dragonfly Bed and Breakfast she knew he was spending the night in. She even ignored the warning voices in her mind that told her she shouldn't apparate after so many glasses of wine. The only thing missing from this whole experience was that she got splinched along the way.

'What the fuck am I doing?', she thought to herself, her hand grabbing her wand, thinking about going back.

-8-

(The week before)

 _He left the bathroom and she saw him walking further into the hallway._

 _There wasn't anybody else on the terrace and she observed him through the glass door, without him notice her._

 _He grabbed a wizard cigarette from his pocket and she interrupted him before he had the chance to bring it to his lips._

 _"I thought you quit", she told him._

 _He turned to face her, "I did"._

 _He took a step towards her and she took one step back._

 _They repeated the action another two times like a dance until she felt the cement touch her naked skin._

-8-

Friday night

Hermione was talking with the receptionist. She didn't know what room he was staying at and decided to ask the lady if she could pay him a visit. Fortunately, the witch remembered her well from the last time and let her walk up the stairs without warning him after she told it was a surprise.

-8-

(The week before)

 _She grabbed the lapel of his black shirt, not knowing if she wanted to push him off her or bring him closer._

 _Draco interrogated her another time, "Why did you follow me here, Granger?"_

 _He touched her cheek with the back of his hand as his mercury eyes faced her brown ones._

 _Hermione looked at her feet to break away from his inspection. She did not answer him, but threw him a different question, "Why did you keep the note after so many years?"._

 _She inhaled further._

 _But Draco didn't hide the truth as she figured he would. His orbs were unfocused from the alcohol he had taken, but he sustained her glare anyway. "I can't forget what we shared", he revealed. "I got the invitation for the party today and afterward a letter from Daphne telling me you got engaged"._

 _She puffed when she heard the witch's name._

 _Draco took a big breath, "I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste."_

 _He put both hands on her face._

 _"Not after everything", he shared._

 _"You can not be serious, Draco". She got away from his grip. "We haven't spoken one word to each other in five years", she almost yelled at him._

 _"So what are you doing back here with me?", he asked her another time, aggravated. The same words._

 _She could not answer him. And just stared at where he stood._

 _He moved forward and kissed her hard._

 _She opened her eyes and lifted her brows in surprise._

 _"I can't do this", Hermione asserted and ran away from him._

-8-

Friday night

Once again she tried to comprehend why she could not keep away from him. She had promised herself she would not go near him a second time, but there she stood once again. Tonight, there was no alcohol playing with her reasoning.

She knocked strongly on the door and waited.

After long minutes, he got to the door and opened a small gap. He faced her silently, astonished.

"Hi", she said as if the situation they were in was a normal one.

He did not greet her back, just gawked. After gathering himself, he questioned her for what felt like the thousandth time, "Why did you come here, Hermione?", swallowing the lump that formed in his throat.

She could say to him that Ron didn't have his warm lips. Or that nobody could break her serious facade like he was able to. Maybe it was because she never had arguments so heated as the ones they shared. She could also tell him that every year, on his birthday, after they separated, she drank wine until she could forget and masker the pain. And that when Ron asked her to marry him, all she could think about was why Draco and she had ended things. And, although she cracked her head to find an answer, she could not remember a single motive that could have kept them apart for so long.

Instead, she grabbed and unfolded the small piece of paper inside her coat, and read him the message she had written him 5 years ago.

 _"I know that there are so many things that can get in our way and that the road ahead of us will not be easy. However, even if one day we grow apart, I will always find my way back to your arms._

 _HG"_


End file.
